A.I. Hardware

Nobody Wanted an ‘A.I. PC,’ So Microsoft Dropped the Copilot+ Name

co-produced by AI27. September 2026, 08:00

Microsoft Surface Laptop und Surface Pro als Copilot+ PCs — © Microsoft

The A.I. revolution on the laptop has been called off, at least on the label. Microsoft and the chipmaker Qualcomm have quietly stopped using the “Copilot+ PC” brand on new devices, the name they used in 2024 to herald a new era of A.I. computers, Windows Central reports. The technology stays; the name disappears.

Same Devices, New Name

The brand was never officially retired; it simply no longer appears. The new Surface models Microsoft introduced this year no longer carry the label in their names. “These are not called Copilot+ PCs,” said Brett Ostrum, who runs Surface, even though the devices “meet all the requirements of our previous bar.”

Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon chips powered the first Copilot+ PCs, is also moving away from the term. The company offers “the same experiences, probably without just using that terminology,” said Kedar Kondap, a Qualcomm executive. The brand was originally meant to set a minimum level of performance for A.I. chips known as N.P.U.s, he said. The big PC makers Dell, HP and Lenovo have also largely removed the label from their marketing.

Bought, but Not for the A.I.

The reason is sobering. The devices did sell well at first, but mainly because customers needed a new PC anyway and the new models happened to include an A.I. chip, TechSpot writes. The A.I. itself was rarely the reason to buy.

Microsoft also created problems of its own:

The Recall misstep: Recall, the flagship feature that regularly saves screenshots of the screen so users can find everything again, came under heavy criticism after warnings from security researchers and launched only after a long delay.
The confusing name: The devices had little to do with the Copilot chatbot, so the name promised something it couldn’t deliver.
Copilot’s weak image: Microsoft’s A.I. assistant was already unpopular with many users, and the mocking nickname “Microslop” has long been circulating online.

One detail shows how far the retreat goes: some of the new Surface laptops come with just 8 gigabytes of memory, even though Copilot+ PCs originally required at least 16 gigabytes.

The Whole Industry Is Backing Off

Microsoft isn’t alone. Early this year, Dell brought back its storied XPS brand after previously dropping it in favor of new product names, conceding that A.I. alone is not a strong enough selling point. Even Nvidia deliberately avoided the Copilot+ label for its new RTX Spark laptop platform, even though it meets the requirements.

Apple never used the term “A.I. PC” in the first place and prefers to market its Macs on battery life and performance, even though they have long had their own A.I. chips. The A.I. hype is moving from the label into the background: the features remain in the devices, but they are once again being sold on classic arguments like price, battery life and design.